Award-winning writer and cookbook author Nicole Parton dishes up food and fun in this lively blog! Husband Ron taste-tests, photographs what’s cookin’, and at times shares and enjoys his own creations.

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Thursday, March 2, 2017

African Fire Pork Stew

Turn up the heat! This is fabulous, Dollinks, fabulous! As with any stew, this recipe takes time … Allow 4-to-4-1/2 hours if you use dried chilis; about 3 hours with fresh ones. That’s a long time, but worth it. I started cooking this in a 3 qt. (2.8 L) pot on the stove, but as I added more and more to the pot, I transferred the works into a 5 qt. (4.7 L) pot. Adding more and still more, I split the stew between both pots. At the end of what seemed a very long cooking time, we pronounced it delicious!

Pork Note: Weigh pork after de-fatting. Masochists and fools like me will say: “I’m not going to spend an extra 50¢ per lb. ($1 per kg) to buy stew-sized pieces of pork when I can easily do that myself!” How much do you value your time? Pork can be quite fatty, and one of the chunks I bought was loaded with far and gristle running through the grain. It may be worth paying the extra to have the work done for you. Fortunately, I also bought a pork roast with only a thick sheath of fat over its top, and flawless meat. This was easy to cube. Any raw meat is easiest to slice if it’s partially frozen, as this second chunk was.

Choose the least fatty pork possible! I did not!

Quite a chore ... Fat and gristle inside and out!

So much easier! Only one large sheath of fat over thispiece - easy to remove from partially frozen meat.

Here’s some of what I removed! Lesson: Buy dicedpork to check the amount of fat inside.

Garlic Clove Note: Pressing on a fresh bulb of garlic cloves with the flat side of a meat mallet or heavy cleaver will loosen its skin as well as the skins of the cloves inside. Jalapēno Pepper Note:A grapefruit knife is the ideal tool to strip away the inner membrane and seeds of these and any other peppers.

Add pork, onions, garlic, and jalapēno peppers. Stir well.

Two hours later ...

Serve! An outstanding stew - but very hot!

Seasoning Note:I used freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground black peppercorns - but only a whisper. With the many spices and peppers in this stew, you don’t need much.

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About This Blog

I'm Nicole Parton, a retired journalist and author of two cookbooks. Cooking has been my passion and hobby for many years. I invite you to follow Nicole Parton’s Favorite Recipes, and hope you’ll find it fun and inspirational. To drop me a line, click nicoleparton172@gmail.com or use the comment box below each recipe. If you're part of "Google Circles," feel free to add my name. Happy Cooking, Dollinks! xox Nicole